5 Lessons From A Professional Change Agent – Forbes.com

Carol Kinsey Goman, Professional Change Agent for 25 years – states “ … The turbulent economy increases pressure to “do more with less.”…Customers are demanding “better, faster, cheaper” everything. Competition is fierce. The pace of change is accelerating. “ Sound like your challenges as a Continuous Improvement Team Member?? She states “leadership success belongs to those who can keep a work force resilient and engaged while dealing with a tsunami of change, complexity and chaos.”Her 5 lessons”1) People are more important than strategy. – “. . . organizational change efforts fail more often than they succeed — and rarely because of poor strategy. Rather, it’s almost always a “people” issue.” 2) Emotion has more impact than logic. “ . . . what matters more than the facts alone is the ability to place those facts into a meaningful context and to deliver them with emotional impact. That is why leaders who tell stories are such powerful communicators. Stories create the context, give facts meaning, and speak directly to the emotions.”3) Your behavior is more persuasive than what you say. As one savvy executive put it, “What I do in the hallway is more important than what I say in the meeting.”4) Informal networks are more influential than formal communication channels. 5) Nonverbal communication is more powerful than verbal communication.